The prior art includes general air treatment technology, such as compressed air filters, dust filters, general purpose filters, coalescing filters and activated carbon filters. The compressed air filters may include a filter body containing a filter element which couples to a filter head. The filter head typically includes the fittings for connecting the filter into a compressed air system. The filter element requires periodic replacement to maintain the performance of the compressed air system. In particular, a standard schedule for filter element replacement significantly lowers the pressure drop loss across the compressed air system.
To accommodate ease in replacement of the filter element, the fittings for coupling to the compressed air system are generally limited to the filter head. The filter body contains the filter element and, with the exception of the drain, includes no attachments to the compressed air system. Thus, the filter body is designed for easy removal from the compressed air system together with the filter element for easy replacement of the filter element.
The prior art filter heads include various different configurations, including the ports, chamber and interface to the filter element and filter body. Each style of configuration of filter head requires a filter body and filter element with a corresponding configuration in order to provide a sealed filter with optimum flow characteristics.
The main problem with the prior art is the required manufacturing of each component part and the corresponding inventory required for each part, to support the assembly of the various systems.